The Innocent Can Never Last

Rest

Billie's POV

I guess I spent the majority of that day sleeping, because by the time I woke up, I was on the couch by myself, and it was fairly dark outside. Still feeling like I had been run over by several times by a double-decker bus, I slowly got to my feet and headed back to Emma's room, where I could hear voices softly carrying on a conversation back and forth. Emma was sprawled out on her bed talking to Anastasia, who was standing in front of her dresser mirror, brushing out her long, dark hair. Emma immediately sat up as I entered the room, and said, "Hey, there, sleeping beauty, we were wondering if you were going to wake up soon."
"What time is it?" I asked, sitting down next to Emma on the bed and resting my head on her shoulder.
"It's almost nine o'clock dear, you slept all day," Emma replied.
"Sorry," I said.
"Don't be sorry, I was just stating a fact," Emma said, laughing a bit.
"How are you feeling?" Anastasia asked me, sitting down on my other side.
"Like I'm never going to drink that much ever again," I replied.

Anastasia and Emma both laughed. "Well, you don't look half as bad as you did earlier today, if that helps at all," Ana said.
"That helps tons," I said sarcastically.
Emma snickered. "You missed Mike and Tre," she said suddenly. "They stopped by a few hours ago and dropped off some clothes and stuff. They thought you might want to stay for a few days."
"Do you mind if I stay for a few days?" I asked.
"Not at all. My home is your home, too, love," she answered, before pointing to a black duffel bag that was sitting on the floor at her feet. "Your stuff's in there."
"Cool," I answered. "I think I'm going to go take a shower, if you don't mind."
I hadn't showered in over a day, and I was feeling pretty greasy and nasty, to say the least. "Go ahead, I don't mind at all," Emma said.
"Okay," I said, grabbing the duffel bag from the floor and heading into the bathroom.

I closed the door behind me, and began stripping my wrinkled clothes off. I jumped into the shower and turned it on to the hottest setting it would go without having to risk being scalded. I then turned and let the warm water run down my shoulders and back, massaging my aching muscles. Truthfully, I still felt horrible. It seemed like everything hurt, especially my heart. That hurt the worst. It felt like someone had ripped it out and stuck it in a blender. I silently cursed myself for being so stupid as to fall for Ruby. She was trouble from the start, no doubt about it, and I had no one to blame for my pain but myself. It still hurt like hell, though...

When I was finished in the shower, some twenty minutes later, I slowly got out and dried myself off, trying to ignore the aching feeling that was running down my back. I dug some lounge clothes out of the duffel bag that Mike and Tre had brought over, and put them on. After that, I grabbed the duffel bag and headed back out into the living room, where Emma was now sitting on the couch, watching some kind of late-night sitcom. I threw the bag on the floor and sat down next to her on the couch, laying my head gently on her shoulder.

"Feel any better?" she asked quietly.
"Not really," I replied.
"How does your head feel?" she asked.
"It's okay. Not as bad as it was earlier," I answered.
Emma nodded silently. "And how are you...coping?" she asked slowly.
"Well...I'll heal eventually."
Emma sighed. "I hate seeing you so depressed. Is there anything I can do to help speed up the healing process?" she asked.
"You already have helped me, Emma, just by being here. I couldn't ask anymore from you, really," I said, and I meant it.

She was the most amazing person I knew, and just having her by my side through everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours had been comfort enough. It wasn't enough for Emma, though; she always wanted to help. "Let me know if there's anything at all that I can do for you, baby. I worry about you so much," she said sincerely.
I smiled a bit, and put my head in her lap. "What would I do without you, Emma?" I asked her.
"What would I do without you, Billie Joe?" she asked me right back.
"You wouldn't have anybody to baby," I replied, and she smiled.
"No, I wouldn't, that's for sure. Can you see me trying to baby Mike or Tre like I baby you?" she asked. "That would be a nightmare."
"Ha, yeah right," I answered. "Tre...he'd probably think you were trying to make sexual advances on him."
"Bill, all you have to do is look at Tre with the right expression on your face and he'll take it the wrong way," Emma said, and I laughed.
"True," I replied.